Portal:Association football

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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.

The game of association football is played in accordance with the Laws of the Game, a set of rules that has been in effect since 1863 and maintained by the IFAB since 1886. The game is played with a football that is 68–70 cm (27–28 in) in circumference. The two teams compete to score goals by getting the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts, under the bar, and fully across the goal line). When the ball is in play, the players mainly use their feet, but may also use any other part of their body, such as their head, chest, and thighs, except for their hands or arms, to control, strike, or pass the ball. Only the goalkeepers may use their hands and arms, and that only within the penalty area. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner. There are situations where a goal can be disallowed, such as an offside call or a foul in the build-up to the goal. Depending on the format of the competition, an equal number of goals scored may result in a draw being declared with 1 point awarded to each team, or the game goes into extra time or a penalty shoot-out.

Internationally, association football is governed by FIFA. Under FIFA, there are six continental confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. Of these confederations, CONMEBOL is the oldest one, being founded in 1916. National associations (e.g. the FA in England, the U.S. Soccer in the United States, Canada Soccer in Canada, Football Australia in Australia, New Zealand Football in New Zealand, etc) are responsible for managing the game in their own countries both professionally and at an amateur level, and coordinating competitions in accordance with the Laws of the Game. (Full article...)

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The FIFA World Cup is an international football competition contested by the men's national football teams of the member nations of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament's final phase, often called the World Cup Finals, is the most widely-viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final. The current format of the Finals involves thirty-two national teams competing at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month.

Its success has led to the creation of, amongst others, the FIFA Women's World Cup and Under-17 and Under-20 male and female youth competitions as well as similar non-FIFA competitions such as the Homeless World Cup. (Full article...)

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David Beckham signing autographs in New Zealand

David Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975) is an English professional association football midfielder.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team début in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premiership title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons and was part of the La Liga winning squad in 2007. Beckham subsequently moved to the United States to play for the LA Galaxy in a move that gave him the highest salary of any Major League Soccer player in history.

He has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year, and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer. Beckham was also the captain of England from 15 November 2000 to 2 July 2006. He made 58 appearances as captain, and ended his tenure in that role after the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals.

Outside of football, he is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a spokesman for Malaria No More and was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2003. (Full article...)

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The Scottish Football Association (Scottish Gaelic: Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA include clubs in Scotland, affiliated national associations as well as local associations. It was formed in 1873, making it the second-oldest national football association in the world. It is not to be confused with the Scottish Football Union, which is the name that the SRU was known by until the 1920s.

The Scottish Football Association is a member of both UEFA and FIFA and holds a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) which is responsible for the Laws of the Game. It is based at Hampden Park in Glasgow. In addition, the Scottish Football Museum is located there. (Full article...)

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... that Ryan Roberts, a defensive end for Notre Dame, was a soccer player in high school?
... that Welsh footballer Jon Morgan went on to become a college principal after retiring?
... that goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse, who has lived in England, Africa and the US, has been chosen to play soccer for the Republic of Ireland?
... that Ecuadorian footballer Hernán Galíndez won a bicycle for beating a team featuring Lionel Messi when they were children?
... that after his soccer career, Steve Palacios enlisted in the United States Army and played for the United States Armed Forces soccer team?
... that Carlton Town F.C., now competing at the eighth tier of the English football pyramid, was once denied promotion by a hat-trick scored by future England international Jamie Vardy?
... that football manager Darren Moore led Sheffield Wednesday to promotion even after they lost the first leg of their play-off semi-final 4–0?

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Feyenoord

Credit: commons user Knurftendans

A helicopter lands at the Feijenoord Stadion, home of Feyenoord. The club holds an open day during the pre-season build-up which attracts up to 70,000 fans annually, the highlight of which is the flying in of newly signed players to be introduced to the supporters.

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Football's a difficult business and aren't they prima donnas. But it's a wonderful game.

— Elizabeth II, speaking to Premier League chairman Dave Richards

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The following are images from various association football-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1An early draft of the original hand-written 'Laws of the Game' drawn up on behalf of The Football Association by Ebenezer Cobb Morley in 1863 on display at the National Football Museum, Manchester. (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 2FC de Rakt DA1 (2008/2009) (from Women's association football)
Image 3Florida state vs North Carolina soccer 2005. (from Women's association football)
Image 4Drawing of the first international game by artist William Ralston (from History of association football)
Image 5Iran women's national football team maintained a higher rank internationally. (from Women's association football)
Image 6Cricket and Foot-Ball, one of the earliest books about association football, published by Beadle & Co. in New York in 1866. It contained the rules and laws of the game (from History of association football)
Image 7Megan Rapinoe speaks on equal pay in March 2021. (from Women's association football)
Image 8Old Etonians v Blackburn Rovers match. Illustration by S.T. Dadd, 1882 (from History of association football)
Image 9From 1866 to 1883, the laws provided for a tape between the goalposts (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 10Sam Kerr with Australia during the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal against Japan in Edmonton, 2015 (from Women's association football)
Image 11Arsenal in 2007 of the Women's FA Cup. (from Women's association football)
Image 12Representation of a football match from the book Athletics and football, 1894 (from History of association football)
Image 13United States Abby Wambach plays off a corner kick against Canada.
Image 14The official record attendance for a women's football match was set at Camp Nou on 22 April 2022, with 91,648 people watching Barcelona defeat Wolfsburg 5–1 (pictured). (from Women's association football)
Image 15Olympique Lyonnais vs Paris Saint-Germain. (from Women's association football)
Image 16Marta of Brazil is the all-time leading scorer of the senior FIFA World Cups. (from Women's association football)
Image 17A Welsh women's football team pose for a photograph in 1959 (from Women's association football)
Image 18Sheffield F.C. (here pictured in 1876) is the oldest association club still active, having been founded in 1857 (from History of association football)
Image 19Japanese high-school girls playing football in their traditional hakama with one team wearing sashes (c. 1920) (from Women's association football)
Image 20Portland Thorns traveling supporters at Seattle's Memorial Stadium. (from Women's association football)
Image 21Striker Cristiana Girelli and coach Rita Guarino of Juventus in 2019. Juventus is one of the most storied and successful football clubs in Italy. (from Women's association football)
Image 22When first introduced in 1891, the penalty was awarded for offences within 12 yards of the goal-line. (from Laws of the Game (association football))
Image 23The Royal Engineers team who reached the first FA Cup final in 1872 (from History of association football)
Image 24Mia Hamm (left) battles with German defender Kerstin Stegemann (from Women's association football)
Image 25The Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies (from Women's association football)
Image 26Iran vs Turkey in 2010 Youth Olympics (from Women's association football)
Image 27Players fighting for the ball during the match between Germany and Norway in UEFA Women's Euro 2009 in Tampere, Finland. (from Women's association football)
Image 28"North" team of the British Ladies' Football Club, 1895 (from Women's association football)
Image 29Harrow School team of 1867. (from History of association football)

Selected World Cup

Pos	Grp	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	D	Argentina	3	2	0	1	6	3	+3	6	Advance to knockout stage
2	F	Belgium	3	2	0	1	2	1	+1	6
3	A	United States	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	E	Italy	3	1	1	1	2	2	0	4
5	B	Russia	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1	3
6	C	South Korea	3	0	2	1	4	5	−1	2

Source: FIFA

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York City F.C.

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List of Clubmen of the Year

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... that the 1998 Football League Third Division play-off Final was the first play-off final to feature two brothers when Neil and David Gregory played for Colchester United? (20 March 2021)
... that MLS Cup 2000 was the first championship game in league history not to feature D.C. United? (13 April 2021)
... that Icelandic footballer Þórdís Hrönn Sigfúsdóttir has had to self-isolate on four occasions during the COVID-19 pandemic? (18 March 2021)
... that both of Scunthorpe United's substitutes failed to score their penalties in the shootout, which saw them lose the 1992 Football League Fourth Division play-off Final? (21 April 2021)
... that South African association footballer Amanda Sister has played for clubs in Hungary and Italy? (9 March 2021)
... that Manjappada, a supporters' group of Kerala Blasters FC, coordinated and brought forty-one busloads of their fans across Kerala to the venue for the opening match of the 2019–20 season? (26 January 2021)